They suspect Sarkozy, 59, sought to obtain inside information from one of the magistrates about the progress of another inquiry and that he was tipped off that his mobile phone had been tapped by judges looking into the alleged financing of his 2007 election campaign by former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The case could prove devastating for Sarkozy‘s hopes of a political comeback in time for the 2017 presidential campaign.